BRICE Survey

Information Sheet about the Research Study

Addressing Privacy Online

{IRB # 081243 }

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE

You are invited to participate in a research study on individuals’ privacy expectations under the direction of Dr. Kirsten Martin of the Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy, George Washington University (GWU), and paid for by National Science Foundation (Grant #1311823). Taking part in this research is entirely voluntary.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to examine factors that contribute to individuals' privacy expectations online.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCEDURES

If you choose to take part in this study, you will take an online survey about privacy expectations online. The total amount of time you will spend in connection with this study is 15-20 minutes. You may refuse to answer any of the questions and you may stop your participation in this study at any time.

HOW IT WORKS:

This survey contains short descriptions of an experience online. We would like to know your judgment if the actions meet your privacy expectations.

For example:

You are working on an online banking website that you have used once every few days for about four months.

On the online banking site, your general online activity is collected by an outside company's invisible tracking program and will be stored for a month. The data collected also includes your location.

We are interested in your judgment about the degree to which the vignette meets your privacy expectations and there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. You will choose a number that corresponds with the degree to which the vignette meets your privacy expectations with a slider that looks like this:

Let negative numbers denote ratings not meeting privacy expectations and positive numbers denote ratings meeting your privacy expectations. So, if you do not agree with the statement, you would slide the button to the left. If you agree with the statement you would slide the button to the right.

Your responses are completely confidential.

DISCOMFORTS AND RISKS

No risks or discomforts are anticipated from taking part in this study. If you feel uncomfortable with a question, you can skip that question or withdraw from the study altogether. If you decide to quit at any time, your answers will not be recorded.

Every effort will be made to keep your information confidential, however, this can not be guaranteed. We will NOT know your IP address when you respond to the Internet survey, and we do not ask for identifiable demographic information. Instead, we will record your entries based on a randomly generated number.

If results of this research study are reported in journals or at scientific meetings, the people who participated in this study will not be named or identified.

EXPECTED BENEFITS

No direct benefits to subjects. You will be contributing to scholarship on online privacy by participating in this survey.

WITHDRAW FROM THE STUDY

Your participation is voluntary; you are free to withdraw your participation from this study at any time. If you do not want to continue, you can simply leave this website. You may choose to skip any questions that you do not wish to answer.

CONTACTS

The Office of Human Research of George Washington University, at telephone number (202) 994-2715, can provide further information about your rights as a research participant. Further information regarding this study may be obtained by contacting Kirsten Martin (Principal Investigator of the Study) at martink@gwu.edu or 202-994-2478

Your willingness to participate in this research study is implied if you proceed.

*Please keep a copy of this document in case you want to read it again.